


Wings, Wolves, and Demigods

by allisonPTXo3



Category: Maximum Ride - James Patterson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Virals Series - Kathy Reichs
Genre: F/M, I probably forgot a bunch of characters, M/M, The title and plot are fluid, sorry for any confusion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-08-08 23:45:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7778293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allisonPTXo3/pseuds/allisonPTXo3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Percy was claimed by Poseidon, he didn't notice the girl in the forest watching him.</p>
<p>Also: you don't have to know anything about the Virals series or really the Maximum ride series- I'll be providing background information as I introduce them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mysterious Clearing

\----__MAX__----

 

I just love flying. Yeah, yeah, I know- everyone dreams of it. I’m not talking about dreaming. Not everyone gets to actually, physically experience flying.

 

And no, we are not junior pilots. We are mutant freaks. Genetic accidents. We have wings, along with a bunch of other strange stuff.

 

Welcome to the life of Maximum Ride! That’s me.

 

I don’t think actual flying is similar to dreams, either. Angel tells me she had a dream once where she was flying, and she kind of just glided where she wanted to go. When we fly, you go up and down, up and down- except when you dive or glide. It’s completely worth it, though, I promise.

 

By the way, Angel is a 7 year old child, not an actual angel, though granted, with her pure white wings, blond hair, and blue eyes, she does look like one sometimes. Once you get through the layers of gumdrops and butterflies, you see a deviant, definitely-not-innocent child that will use her adorable-ness to get stuff. More than one adult has fallen for it.

 

Yes, I am not alone. There are five others: Iggy and Fang, who are 15 like me, Nudge, who is 13, the Gasman, or Gazzy for short, who is 9, and Angel, who you already know.

 

Together, we’re the Flock.

 

And that’s what we’re doing now- flying. Heading to my mom’s house for a while. Swooping, soaring, dive-bombing- you name it. The infinite blue sky makes us feel like gods. As if.

 

I coast on a current of warm air, filling my wings like sails and carrying me up up up- then I tuck my wings tight against my back and plunge for about a mile straight down. Talk about an adrenaline ride. Looking up, I see my five favorite people silhouetted against the sun. They grow smaller and smaller as I continue to fall, then disappear as I enter the puffy clouds.

 

Bad idea. Since clouds are mostly water vapor, I am soaked in seconds. I unfurl my wings and fly up again, blinking moisture out of my eyes and sputtering.

 

I leave the clouds, but something is off. Where the afternoon sun should be shining, there is only dim light.

 

My eyes adjust, and I realize that the blackness covering the sun is- no, are- Erasers. Flying Erasers. Flyboys, we call them. And lots of them.

 

Well, not _lots_ of them. The Flock and I can handle them- I hope. There are maybe 50 or so. Above me, the Flock is already performing evasive maneuvers. They spiral down towards me.

 

“Scatter towards the clouds! Move it, move it!” I shout, dropping down again. Getting soaked is nothing compared to getting killed. Plus, it’s our best chance of survival.

 

I plunge into the clouds yet again, my hair dripping this time. A Flyboy comes towards me. I grin. We haven’t seen action like this for ages. I’ve been getting wound tighter and tighter with each day. And there is nothing like punching enemies to relieve pressure.

 

Once it’s in hitting distance, I lash out with my fist, hitting it’s side and spinning it off course. It lunges at me, and I fly out of the way, kicking at its torso as I do. I continue farther into the clouds, preparing to meet back up with the others.

 

“Heads up, everyone!” Gazzy shouts. Normally when a 9 year old says that you can expect to be facing a water gun or something, but we’re not normal. Not in the slightest. I immediately fly away from the sound of his voice. Sure enough, in a split second the sky lights up, taking at least 8 Flyboys with it. Where he stashes his bombs, I don’t even want to know.

 

But even though the Gasman and Iggy (the pyrotechnicians of the Flock) use all of their explosives, there’s still a dangerous number of Flyboys left. Of course, we could fly away, but that is our backup plan. If we leave them then they’ll report back to whoever sent them, and that’s never good.

 

Two Flyboys fly at me. I clap my hands over one of their ears, effectively blowing out its eardrums. It falls, howling. The other one swings at me, hitting my ribs and blowing my breath out. Gasping like a fish, I inhale and regain my cool. Now I'm mad.

 

I can barely see my friends. I can barely hear them, too- though not because they are far away. Thunder is rumbling, and not just in the distance. The clouds are more of a blue-gray, instead of a light gray/white. _We need to get out of these clouds. Now._ And up isn’t an option…  

 

“Guys! Scatter! Regroup at Dr. Martinez’s house!” I shout. I get a split second glance at Nudge, who nods grimly through a split lip as she flies away from 3 Flyboys.

 

I use my super-speed talent thingy (don’t ask how I do it, I don’t even know) briefly to leave the cloud of enemies. The other outlines of the Flock follow. And then I see it.

 

A giant patch of blue sky. Similar to the eye of a hurricane, except this isn’t a hurricane. Regardless, it makes the battle much easier for us. No stinging rain in our eyes plus a clear view makes the Flyboys go bye-bye.

 

So I fly into it.

 

Once I’m in the center-ish area, I look around. Why hasn’t anyone followed me in? I see multiple Flyboys try to fly into the clearing, only to bounce off until they fall, smoking, back to the ground, all bent wings and dented noggins. I see Nudge and Gazzy speed towards me, then bounce off as if they hit a wall. Angel explores the upper area, trying to get in, but can’t find a way either. Iggy is- wisely- not trying to come in again, and picking off a Flyboy. Fang must still be fighting.

 

Wait… how did _I_ get in if the others can’t? It’s not as if it’s a building, I mean, _it_ is just a blank space of blue sky. But the Flyboys can’t come in either. There is only one difference between their reaction to the invisible barrier and the Flock’s.

 

When my Flock is resilient, the Flyboys just fall down, down, down, until I can’t see them anymore.

 

Now, I’ve seen some pretty crazy things in my life. This ranks in the top five.

 

But I’m still in battle mode, and I shrug off all of the questions. There are still some Flyboys left, after all.

 

So I leave the eye of the storm and take down the rest of our enemies.

 

It’s all a blur of fighting, but finally, the last of the Flyboys is gone. Looking at the Flock, I see a few bloody noses, scrapes, and bruises- but that’s it. A wave of relief rushes over me. We’re okay.

 

“Good job, everyone.”

 

“Max, I’m hungry.” Nudge whines. We’ve been flying for something like four hours, and I keep forgetting how little stamina the younger ones have. I toss her a few bags of chips (yes, being mutant freaks means we need lots and lots of calories), then remember that she isn’t the youngest and therefore probably not the hungriest, and give Gazzy and Angel snacks too.

 

Once everyone’s eaten, we continue. Or rather, start to continue. I still want to investigate that mysterious border.

 

“You guys go ahead- I’m going to see what’s up with that area.” I shout to Fang. He nods in his usual sullen way. He knows the way to the house.

 

I fly back to the clearing. After circling around a few times, I am thoroughly perplexed. When I rise above the clouds, I can see that the clearing is a perfect circle. A big perfect circle. Not once does any cloud vapor cross that perimeter. Even the rain, which is coming down at an angle due to the wind, doesn’t cut across.

 

I decide to see whether the ground has anything to do with it. I’ve lived long enough to know that nothing happens without a reason. I mean, 15 years. But still. A lot of action has happened in those 15 years.

 

I slowly circle around the perimeter while descending. Whatever this invisible ‘shield’ is, it continues all the way to the ground.

 

I eventually decide to land in the forest just on the inside of the boundary, and immediately notice that it isn’t… normal. For one, the plants are way too green and bountiful to not be protected. Am I in a park or something? And two… I don’t recognize most of them. Like, I’m aware that I don’t know many plants, but some of these seem almost… ancient. Like I’ve traveled back in time, or at least to some freaky preservation.

 

I lower myself so that my feet are brushing the top of trees, searching for a suitable landing spot. I don’t find one. Eventually I just choose a tree at random and drop onto it. My feet immediately slip on the slick moss, and I fall, only just catching myself with my hands. From there I just let myself drop, rolling when I hit the ground to take the impact. It works… mostly. I’ll have a bruise tomorrow.

 

I’m brushing the leaves off my clothes when my senses go on hyper-alert. I freeze, then slip behind a tree. My ears strain to pick up distant shouting of… kids? I can’t make out what they’re saying, but it sounds like they’re playing some sort of sport. Basketball, maybe? Kids these days. _Tsk, tsk._

 

I creep closer, ever aware of my surroundings and trying not to make a sound. My gut says that I need to find out what is up with this place. And I always listen to my gut.

 

For what seems like forever I jog towards the sounds, dodging boulders, trees, and plants. _Why not fly?_ you ask, but I can’t for two reasons. One, the trees are too closely knit for me to fly. And two, it’s too loud and obvious. Until I know more about them, I can’t let those kids see me. And not just because of the usual stuff, wings, etc

  
The sound is coming from farther inside the border.


	2. No, Seriously.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy's scene at the creek, from Max's perspective.

__--MAX--__

I follow the sounds closer and closer, until it feels like I’m right on top of them. The closer I get, the more I hear. And I also pick up the clashing of metal objects… that couldn’t possibly be lacrosse sticks. The sounds are more spread out, too. Instead of one group, or one basketball court or something, it’s spread out through almost the entire forest! 

 

I walk towards the nearest voices. The trickling of a creek gets louder and louder- but not louder than the shrieking of kids. I peek from behind an overgrown shrub. On the other side of a stream, I see a bunch of kids in orange tshirts wearing… is that armor? And really old-fashioned armor, too. What is this, some kind of history camp? They’re fighting with swords! Swords, for Pete’s sake!

 

I follow the stream for a while, until I come across one boy standing alone, almost falling over due to the weight of his armor and shield. His back is to me, so he can’t see me… which I’m fine with. His helmet pushes down his jet black hair until it’s almost over his eyes. On it is a plume of blue feathers. They contrast with the bronze of the armor.

 

The kid isn’t doing anything but watching the woods around him nervously, and he looks so harmless that I consider talking to him. I need some answers, anyway.

 

I’m about to leave the shelter of the trees when five other kids come charging out of the forest on the other side of the creek. The feathers on their helmets are red. Are they on a different team?

 

“Cream the punk!” one of them yells. She is holding a long spear that crackles with electricity. You do not want to be stabbed with that thing. 

 

They splash across the creek, shouting the whole time. One dude swings at the blue guy, who manages to dodge it. Unfortunately, it does not hinder them. The red-helmets surround the dude, who is looking more and more intimidated. The girl with the spear- who seems to be the lead bully- thrusts at him with her spear. His shield blocks it, but his hair stands on end.  _ Oh, right. The spear is electric. _

 

Another bully hits him with the end of his sword and he falls. 

 

“Give him a haircut,” the bully girl says. “Grab his hair.” the kid struggles to his feet and raises his sword in a last attempt, but the bully knocks it aside with her spear. Sparks fly. Literally. That thing is electric, remember?

 

“Oh, wow,” B.G. snorts. “I’m scared of this guy. Really scared.”

 

“The flag is that way,” the blue-plumed kid says in a voice that was probably supposed to sound angry. Look. I’m just gonna call this kid Gerald, okay? I can’t keep on writing ‘the blue-plumed kid’ over and over. Wait, a flag? What is this place?

 

“Yeah,” one of the other bullies says. “But see, we don’t care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid.”

 

“You do that without my help,” Gerald says. Ooh, burn!

 

Two of them charge at him. He backs up towards the creek and tries to raise his shield, but BG hits him straight in the ribs with her spear. At least he’s wearing armor!

 

Then one of the bullies slices his arm. It starts bleeding. “No maiming,” Gerald forces out. In that moment I want to charge in there so badly, but they have freaking  _ swords _ . I’d literally die in the first ten seconds. And it wouldn’t even help him.

 

“Oops, guess I lost my dessert privileges.” One of the dudes snarls. He pushes Gerald into the stream.  The group come into the stream to get him, but he stands up, looking much stronger than moments ago. He hits the first guy with the flat of his blade, making his helmet fall of. He falls into the creek.

 

Two more charge at Gerald. He hits one with his shield, and slices off the red feathers on the other one’s helmet. They back up quick.

 

BG charges again with her spear. But this time Gerald is ready. He catches the shaft between the edge of his shield and his sword, and it snaps.

 

“Ah! You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!” she screams, in a comical voice. She’s about to insult him again, when he smacks her with his sword-butt and sends her stumbling backwards into the stream.

 

The whoops of other people fill the air. A kid charges from my left, holding up a red banner. He has a blue plume on his helmet. Other kids from his… team run behind him, fighting off the red-plumed kids.

 

“A trick!” bully girl shouts. “It was a trick!” She and her buddies stagger after them, but the kid with the red banner has already crossed the… boundary line? Wait, this is… capture the flag? 

 

Everyone with a blue plume on their helmet is cheering. The red cloth shimmers and turns to silver. The boar and spear are replaced with a huge caduceus, and everyone on the blue team picks up the kid that brought it on their shoulders. A man walked out of the woods, except… something is up with his feet. Instead of having two legs like a normal person, he has... four. And they don’t look like human legs...

 

“A centaur?” I whisper from the woods. Those are real? Is this man a product of the School? And what is this place?

 

I’m about to move closer when I hear a voice, coming right out of thin air next to Gerald. “Not bad, hero.” she says. “Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?” The air shimmers, and I see a blond girl in an orange t shirt (of course) appear, holding a Yankees baseball cap.

 

“You set me up.” Gerald says angrily. “You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out.”

 

“I told you.” the girl says. “Athena always, always has a plan.” Athena? Who is that, her sister?

 

“A plan to get me pulverized.”

 

“I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but…” she shrugs. “You didn’t need help. How did you do that?” She points towards Gerald’s sword cut.  

 

“Sword cut,” he says. “What do you think?”

 

“No. It  _ was _ a sword cut. Look at it.”

 

Even from a distance, I can see it. The blood is gone, and where the wound was, there is only a scar, and even that is fading. As I watch, it grows smaller and smaller, then disappears.

 

“I-I don’t get it.” Gerald says. Blondie looks down at his feet, then at BG’s broken spear, and says, “Step out of the water, Percy.” Aw, I liked Gerald! Oh, well.

“What-” Percy starts to say, but Blondie cuts him off. “Just do it.” 

 

He steps out of the creek and almost falls over. Blondie grabs his arm. “Oh, Styx,” she says as if it’s a curse, “This is  _ not  _ good. I didn’t want… I assumed it would be Zeus…” Who this Zeus person is, I have no idea. Hold on a sec… wait… Athena, and then Zeus… those are both Greek gods, right? Surely that’s a coincidence, though...

 

A growl ripples around the gathering, rendering everyone silent. Then a howl pierces the air. The centaur shouts something in a language that I somehow know is Ancient Greek. “ _ Stand ready! My bow!” _

 

I melt into the shadows. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The howl didn’t  _ quite _ sound like an Eraser, but who knows what the White Coats are creating these days. If it wasn’t so loud, I would climb a tree, but you could hear a pin drop in the clearing right now.

 

Suddenly, I see it.

 

A giant black hound, the size of a rhino, with dangerous red eyes and fangs like daggers.

 

It’s looking straight at Percy.

 

“Percy, run!” shouts the blond as she tries to step in front of him, but it leaps over her and onto Percy. Its razor-sharp claws tear his armor in half a second. Then there are tons of  _ thwap _ sounds, and the beast has 20 arrows sticking out of its flank. It falls, dead.

 

“ _ Di immortales!” _ says the girl next to Percy. “That’s a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don’t… they’re not supposed to…”

 

“Someone summoned it,” the centaur says. “Someone inside the camp.”

 

“It’s all Percy’s fault! Percy summoned it!” shouts Clarisse, the bully.

 

“Be quiet, child.” the centaur says. The body of the ‘hellhound’ starts… melting into the ground? HOW is that possible!?

 

“You’re wounded,” the girl says to Percy. “Quick, Percy, get in the water.”

 

“I’m okay.” he says.

 

“No, you’re not. Chiron, watch this.” 

 

Percy steps back into the creek, and visibly straightens. The blood comes back to his face.

  
_ AND A GLOWING TRIDENT APPEARS FLOATING OVER HIS HEAD.   
_


	3. Lottsa Info

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max demands some answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'll probably revise some of this, so definitely give me any ideas that you have, along with any revisions. Actually, any comment at all would be great. Kudos and bookmarks definitely will help me publish chapters faster.

￣\\___/(MAX)\\___/￣

 

“Look, I-I don’t know why,” Percy apologizes, clearly thinking about the healing thing. He hasn’t noticed the whole blue thing floating on his head yet. “I’m sorry…”

 

He realizes that everyone is staring at the FREAKING GLOWING FORK above his head, and looks up himself. It fades away.

 

“Your father,” Blondie mutters. “This is _really_ not good.”

 

“It is determined.” Chiron announces. Everyone starts kneeling as if they’re in some religious ceremony.

 

“My father?” Percy asks. Oh, is that what it’s about? What is this place?

 

“Poseidon,” Chiron says. “Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus

Jackson, Son of the Sea God.”

 

Sea God?

 

Wait. GOD? So this Zeus person… and Athena… okay, I need some answers. Now!

 

Percy and his friend trail behind the group as they head back to wherever their camp sleeps. I storm up to them.

 

“Hey, you!”

 

He turns. “Who are _you_?”

 

“Who are _you_?” I counter. “And what’s up with this stupid Greek god thing?”

 

Thunder booms in the distance. Percy looks around nervously.

 

“Wait,” the girl says. “Why aren’t you wearing the Camp Half-Blood t shirt? And what cabin are you in?”

 

“I’m not in a cabin. I’m not in this camp! And what does half-blood mean, anyway? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure that we’re not in Harry Potter land.”

 

“Then how did you get through the border? Are you a Dryad? Nymph? Sprite?” She asks inquisitively.

 

“Um, no... And I have no idea how I got in. Let’s restart this conversation, yes? My name is Max. What’s your name?”

 

“Annabeth. And this is Percy.”

 

“Yeah, I know. I was watching.” I say. “Now, what is this spiel with greek gods? And how come I could get in here, but my fl-... friends can’t?”

 

“Wait.” Percy says. “You mean to say that you’re mortal. How’d you get through the border, then?” At least they know about the border.

 

“I honestly have no idea.”

 

“We should take you to Chiron and Mr. D,” Annabeth remarks. Who Mr. D is, I don’t know.

 

We walk on a trail through fields of strawberries and past ten- eleven- twelve cabins, up to a big white manor. Inside is a big room with a ping-pong table in it, and a stuffed leopard head mounted on a wall. I blink, and it snarls at me. Huh. Must be a robot or something. Honestly, not a lot can surprise me these days.

 

The centaur that I saw before at capture the flag- Chiron- is now sitting in a wheelchair, with normal legs. Did I hallucinate or something? Next to him is a tubby man in a flowered shirt. He sips a Diet Coke as he shuffles a deck of cards.

 

“Chiron! We found this girl in the woods. She made it through the border on her own. Or at least-” Annabeth glances at me worriedly- “we _think_ she did.”

 

Chiron stiffens. He turns around in his chair and looks at me. “Surely not,” he mutters to himself. “It’s too soon.”

 

Mr. D glances over at me like a lazy cat. Something in his eyes glints when he makes eye contact. He knows something about me. What, I’m not sure. But the hair on the back of my neck stands up, so it can’t be good.

 

“Wait, do you want me to stay at this… place? ‘Cause that’s not happening. I’ve got places to go.”

 

Chiron steeples his fingers. “We could arrange something if you would like.”

 

“Yeah, I would like.” Should I ask it? Should I ask it? Yep, I’m going for it. “Were you, um, were you a centaur, like, an hour ago?” Percy facepalms.

 

Chiron chuckles. “Indeed, I was and am.” He moves to stand up, propping himself up on the arms of the chair… but his “legs” don’t move. Instead his waist keeps coming out, getting longer and… hairy-er, until I see four horse legs step gingerly from the depths of what must be a magic wheelchair.

 

Mr. D belches loudly.

 

Chiron trots out of the room, and I follow him. Annabeth and Percy trail behind.

We walk past a climbing wall that has lava pouring down it every few minutes, and stables with horses- wait. Do those horses have… wings? Wow. Jeb taught me a little of Greek mythology, and the word floats up into my consciousness. Pegasi. This camp has Pegasi. Freaking Pegasi.

 

We are passing what looks like an arsenal when I ask Annabeth what this camp is.

 

“Camp Half-Blood is a safe refuge for demigods,” she says matter-of-factly. “Monsters can’t get across the border, and neither can mortals. And in the meantime, we train.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess…” my voice falters. “Look, why am I being offered a place to stay? I didn’t do anything!”

 

Annabeth just looks at me. “You survived.” She says seriously. I snort.

 

“‘been doing that my whole life. But you guys don’t even _know_ me! I could be a serial killer for all you know!”

 

“You move schools a lot. Probably get kicked out of most of them. Plus, you’ve been diagnosed with dyslexia, and maybe ADHD, too. Taken together, they’re almost a sure sign.” Annabeth informs me.

 "I can read fine!" I protest.

In a cheesy high-pitched voice, Percy says, “Reading English gives you fits because your brain is hardwired for Ancient Greek. The hyperactivity? That’s your battlefield instincts kicking in.” his voice lowers back to normal. “You’re one of us. You’re a demigod. Sound familiar, Annabeth?” Annabeth rolls her eyes.

 

“If y’all are demigods, then who are your parents?” I ask.

 

“My mother is Athena.” Annabeth says. “And as of today, Percy’s dad is Poseidon.”

 

“Then who is my dad?”

 

“Undetermined. Which means that you’ll be staying with the Hermes’ cabin.”

 

“But I can’t stay here. I have a home, and a fl-...family!” I blurt out. Great. I really need to work on the whole flock-vs.-family thing. Both Percy and Annabeth are squinting their eyes at me.

 

“You’ll have to work that out with Chiron. Like he said, everyone who comes here either stays here all year, or all summer.”

 

“You can’t make me!” I’m annoyed. All I wanted was some answers, and here I am being offered a home.

 

There’s a stretch of silence. Finally, Annabeth responds.

 

“Once you’re aware that you aren’t just mortal, monsters can smell you from farther away. They’ll find you in no time. You could leave, but most likely you’d die.”

 

I think on that. Do Erasers count as monsters? There is no way that I can stay here without the others. And then there’s the whole ‘wings’ thing. I’m fairly sure that the others will be fine at my mom’s house, and they know how to handle Erasers on their own. I really need to find out more about this “Camp Half-Blood.” Maybe I can stay for the night… And I’m half GOD? Who? I’ve been told that Dr. Martinez and Jeb are my parents, but I don’t look like Jeb… plus, he’s a lying, manipulative weasel anyway… so I’ll choose to believe that he isn’t my father.

 

“How about I come and go? I don’t need to stay here for the night. I know how to survive on my own.”

 

“That might work, but you have to ask Chiron or Mr. D. He’s the camp director.”

 

“And… what powers do demigods have? Like, Percy heals from water… do you have powers?”

 

Annabeth frowns. “As a child of Athena, I have a lot of wisdom… and she gave me this invisibility hat-” she waves her Yankees cap- “-as a present, but otherwise… no. Most demigods don’t have strong powers, unless they’re like Percy- a child of the Big Three. Those aren’t even supposed to exist, though- Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades made a pact that they wouldn’t have any more children. World War II was basically a war between the children of Hades and the children of Poseidon and Zeus.”

 

“So, Percy is the son of Poseidon, and he has water powers… would children of Zeus have air powers? And children of Hades would have ground powers?”

 

“Yep!” Percy chimes in.

 

Up ahead, Chiron stops walking. Annabeth, Percy and I catch up. In front of us is a cliff. It drops about a hundred meters into a lake. Beyond the lake are rolling hills blanketed in a dark green forest. Beyond that, I can see the ocean. I would love to let myself fall over the edge, and spread out my wings right before I hit the lake! To zoom over it, and watch as the others gaped in shock! The sunlight glinting off my feathers…

 

I look up, and see the storm clouds circling around the camp. That snaps me back to reality.

 

Chiron starts speaking.

 

“A while ago... someone foretold that you, Maximum Ride, would come out of the sky.” Annabeth and Percy look at each other, like, what a weird name! Gee, thanks, guys.

 

Chiron hesitates. “Is that true?” To lie or not to lie? Um…

 

I nod tightly.

 

“Do you wish to tell us how?”

 

I clear my throat, wishing that I am anywhere else. Don’t let them find out, don’t let them find out, don’t let them find out… but I don’t have an excuse!

 

“No.”

 

Chiron nods. “Very well.”

 

I blink. That’s it? No interrogation? And no Erasers have shown up, which tells me that these guys aren’t going to kill me… at least not yet. Aah, I really need some time to process all this stuff! And I should be going so my Flock doesn't think I'm dead...

 _Ba-dum._ My heart beats loudly in my ears.

 

This is crazy.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

I need quiet.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

I need to see my flock.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

Head reeling, I start sprinting towards the woods. “Gotta go, it’s been fun!” I shout over my shoulder. Annabeth and Percy start running after me. Chiron just stands there, watching me.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

I trample over strawberry after strawberry, nearly tripping with each stride as I run parallel to the cliff. I let Annabeth and Percy draw closer.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

Then I swerve right, and dive off the cliff. "I'll come back!" I shout over desperately over my shoulder. I catch a glimpse of their stunned faces, and then gravity takes hold...

 

_Ba-dum._

* * *

 

I snap out my wings and make a sharp right to glide over the edge of the lake, watching my reflection rippling on the dark surface. Beneath the water, naiads sit on the sandy floor sewing straw baskets. I am flying almost right next to the cliff. It’s eroded so that Annabeth and Percy are almost standing straight above me. Needless to say, they can’t see me.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

I pull up just before I hit the treeline, spiraling away towards the clouds. I feel more at home in them. The dense fog rolls over me, and I’m soaked, but it’s fine.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

I’m going to my family.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

It’s only been a few hours, but I miss them. All this magic stuff is making me crave for familiarity.

 

_Ba-dum._

 

I’m going home.

 

_Ba-dum._

* * *

 

_“Where did she go, Chiron?”_

  
_“That, I do not know. But she will be back. She WILL be back.”_


	4. Adjusting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max sees Virals for the first time! Bum bum BUM. And Fang has secrets, as always, and everything is happy in the world of a fangirl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO happy about this fic. So many good things to come! Sorry to those who were following this and haven't read the Virals series. Of course, I take no credit for anything but the plot. Everything else belongs to Kathy and Brendan Reichs.

I fly hard and fast, and before I know it I’m circling down to one of the only places that I can actually call home. I land on the roof, then hop off after a moment, flaring open my wings at the last second so that I don’t go splat. Inside, Fang is waiting for me with a glass of water. He hands it to me, and I chug the whole thing. Flying takes a lot out of a person.

“How was it?”

“For lack of a better word… interesting.” I try to organize my thoughts, then continue. “Apparently it’s a camp, a camp for… half-bloods. It’s… look, you know the Greek gods?” he nods. “Well… apparently they’re real. This camp is for kids with one mortal parent, and one… godly parent.”

Fang glances up at me, daring me to continue. I take a deep breath.

“And… I’moneofthem,” I say in a great whoosh of breath. Fang raises an eyebrow.

“Why, exactly?”

“Um… ‘cause I could get through the border. Cause I’m hyper, like ADHD, you know? And we don’t _really_ know our parents, like for sure! Maybe Jeb isn’t my dad! That would be great. They said that if I can get through the border, than I must have magical blood in my veins. And that’s not all…” I tell him about Chiron the centaur, and the Pegasi, and the glowing trident above Percy’s head.

I tell him about how they said I should stay. I tell him how they don’t _seem_ bad.

“So what do you think?” I ask, anxious for a second opinion. Fang’s face gives away nothing.

“Don’t go,” he says, tight lipped, “‘could be dangerous and there’s no reason to.” Wait. Whaaaaaaaat?

“Uh, sorry?” Since when does Fang think that I can’t fend for myself? I shrug as he stalks off. Oh, well.

Flock meeting, it is!

I round everyone up, give my speech, and see what they think. The response, of course, is a definite yes. Sure, it’s creepy, but Angel wasn’t detecting any bad thoughts, and the people seemed genuinely nice. And if I’m a demigod… well, that would be really cool.

As a child, my biggest dream was to leave my dog cage. I know, some people aim high. But if my parent (father, hopefully) is a freaking _god_ , that would be a crazy fantasy back in my dog days. “Hey, little kid self, guess what, you’re half god!” Yeah, right. If it’s a trap, then let it be a trap. I need to learn more. I need to find out WHO I AM.

That night, I have a dream.

It’s not my usual nightmare- you know, the one where I’m running, and then jump off the cliff- instead, I’m back at the School, in a dog crate. Home sweet home.

I rattle the bars. Surprisingly, the door slides open. I look around. The lab is deserted.

I take off down a random hallway. The polished white tiles reflect the blinding neon lights. On my right, I can see windows leading to a room. There isn’t a door.

That’s all fine. What isn’t is the kids inside.

There’s five of them, and they’re fighting uniformed- military? Noooooooo. Please don’t tell me that the government willingly lets children get tortured.

Anyway, growing up in the School, I get pretty good at finding mutations in people. These kids have glowing blue eyes. And they move without talking, silently, with super fast movements.

The even stranger thing is that they move like one person. A soldier attacks one of the boys from behind- there is no way he could have seen it coming- and yet he blocks it and rolls out of the way.

My feet get heavier and heavier, until it's like I'm walking in place. I can’t move past this room.

Then, the girl sees me. Her eyes widen, and she starts pounding on the windows and screaming for me to help her, free her, take her away from this torture-I feel the inexplicable urge to smash the windows and free them.

I start screaming too, while I pound my own fists on the window, but of course it doesn’t shatter. Instead, I feel someone shaking my shoulder gently.

I force open my eyes to see sunlight streaming through my window, and my mom smiling down at me.

“Time to get up, honey,” she says.

I groan. Then, dream forgotten, I roll out of bed and get ready to face the day.

After a quick breakfast, I fly to camp. I see the orange T-shirts before I see the people. I decide to divebomb. I tuck my wings so that I’m falling too fast for people to see more than a blur. Then I unfurl them right before I hit the roof. My feet tap down lightly on the blue painted wood.

There isn’t much on the roof- there’s a chimney in the far corner and a trapdoor in the middle. I decide to go in the trapdoor.

It takes some pounding- it hasn’t been opened in a long time- but finally the trapdoor creaks open. Flakes of paint take to the stale air that wafts up. There’s a fold-up ladder, but, seeing the condition of the trapdoor who knows if it’s going to work. I hop down into a cluttered room. What I see are not like what you would see in, um, a mortal’s attic. Well, what I can see in the dim light. There aren’t any windows, or at least the windows are covered. Anyway. There’s a mixture of trophies, various claws, and different monster heads floating in jars- ew. Are they PICKLED? Bleh.

Anyway- various rugs line the floor. But the strangest, biggest thing is a mummified woman. She looks like she’s been there a long, long time. She’s sitting in a rocking chair. Her head lolls to the side, leaving what’s left of her straw-like hair to drift limp in the heavy air.

I take a step forward, and the floorboard creaks loudly underneath my foot. It’s dead silent within the house. The mummy’s filmed-over eyes seem to see right through me. The hair on the back of my neck stands up.

I suddenly want to get to the door very badly. I dash over to it and pull on the doorknob. It doesn’t open.

Suddenly the woman’s mouth drops open, and green mist starts to come out of it. If I wasn’t already backed up against the door, I would be now. Determined, I try on the door handle for the second time. Again, it doesn’t open. I glance at the mummy again. The green mist continues to pour out of her mouth. It settles in a cloud around the stuffy room. It smells like reptiles and gross stuff.

I scowl.

The mummified woman sits up and starts to talk to me. Her words are dry and harsh, and they seem to be in my head instead of in the air. My eyes widen as I listen.

 

_“Head south-east lest you lose the pack_

_Fight for beginnings back_

_Beware, demigod, for secrets lurk_

_To be found discreetly under muddy murk_

_Child of death, child of air_

_Lightning daughter succumbs to despair_

_Part of the shadows, angel shall find brethren,_

_Only the unwanted can reach heaven_

_Half shall travel, half shall fly_

_All unite, for one shall die.”_

 

The green haze moves back into the depths of the mummy’s throat. Her mouth closes, and her head lolls back against the chair. She looks like she’s never moved.

I decide to try the door one more time before I climb out of the trapdoor. This time, it opens. Bewildered, I walk out of the room and down the narrow stairway. What was that I just heard? Some sort of prophecy?

I can now see into the room that I was in yesterday, except that only Mr. D is in it. He’s sitting in a ratty old leather recliner.

“You’re late,” he belches as he refills his Diet Coke. I’m surprised into answering.

“I am? For what?” He glares at me in response.

“I could turn you into a dolphin for that insolence, child.” he warns. I just shake my head. Is this guy delusional or is he a god?

“Uh, okay… er, who are you?”

“A God, child! Dionysus, no less!” he clearly thinks very highly of himself. “I wouldn’t even be at this wretched camp if Father hadn’t forced me.” he grumbles to himself. “That nymph was quite beautiful, though…”

He realizes that I’m still there. “Well, go off and do whatever insolent little creatures like you do, then!” he yelps. Sheesh. I continue out of the door, and off the front porch.

I stroll past dozens of campers, looking for a certain centaur. I watch them laughing, see them sculpting, climbing- wherever I go, there is this sense of family. This camp… it could be a home for me, if I let it. It truly is a safe haven for demigods. The only problem is that I can’t bring my flock with me. But my mom’s house is a safe haven of its own, so I could at least come and go… no, scratch that. If anyone was watching me, they would see me go and know where everyone is. But maybe I could go for a few days at a time, or even a week…

I am drawn out of my thoughts when I see Chiron. He turns as I match his stride. His eyes are twinkling.

“Ah, miss Ride, I thought you would come back.” he says. “I assume you wanted to say something?”

“Yeah. Um, I could stay here. But I’d have to be allowed to leave when I want to.”

Chiron nods. “Excellent! I’ll go get you a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.” He walks towards the Big House. I follow.

A few minutes later, I have my own size XL Camp Half-Blood shirt (it has to be big to fit my wings, just FYI). Chiron calls Annabeth to get a weapon for me. We walk to the armory.

“Do you want a sword, or a dagger?” Annabeth asks. “Or maybe a bow and arrows?”

“Could I have a dagger?”

“Sure.” She plucks a sheathed knife from one of the many shelves. They are covered in bronze weapons. Wait, isn’t bronze supposed to be, like, not a very hard material?

Annabeth notices me looking. “They’re celestial bronze. They’ll kill monsters, but not mortals. Unfortunately, since we’re half-and-half, both kinds of weapons can hurt us.”

She hands me the knife. When I grab it, it feels weird in my hands. It seems to hum underneath my fingertips. The sheath is carved with intricate spirals and landscapes. On it, I can see a mountain covered in rolling hills, oceans with giant waves, and meadows covered with every type of wildflower you can imagine. Oooh. That’s why it feels weird. The designs are moving. They fade in and out of focus, like pictures. The waves in the ocean are actually moving, and the wildflowers are gently swaying in an imaginary breeze.

“It’s beautiful.” I breathe. “Are they all like this?”

Annabeth blinks. “Like what?” She takes it from me. Instantly the designs stop moving. She doesn’t seem to notice anything.

“Never mind.” She gives it back, and I unsheath it. The leather handle feels warm and strong in my grip. The brown surface of the knife gleams in the light. I sheath it.

“Yeah, this one is good.” I secure it to my jeans. Now I’m armed with more than the usual pocketknife! “Now... do I learn how to use it?”

* * *

 

Annabeth leads me to an arena. In it, two guys are swordfighting. One of them is Percy, and the other I don’t know. He has blond hair and a scar on his face. It stands out in the light.

“Luke!” Annabeth calls. I’m pretty sure she’s blushing. “Got a new recruit!”

“Cool!” he shouts back. “Undetermined, I assume?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, send her down.” I walk down the steps. Once I get to the bottom- which seems to take forever- Luke sizes me up. I am suddenly aware of how my legs are slightly bent, in athlete’s stance, and how tight my arms are. I hate the whole concept of social-ness.

“You’re a fighter.” he says. I scowl.

“What are we learning?” I ask tightly.

“We were learning double-headed viper strikes… but I’ll teach you the basics first.”

And so I learn how to thrust, keep my opponent off guard, lunge, slash, and basically protect myself from most common monsters while Percy watches. Finally, Luke turns to Percy.

“Now I want you two to fight. First person to disarm the other wins. Ready, and… go!”

Percy jumps at me with his sword. I can see how unbalanced it is, not at all like my dagger. I dodge easily, and bring the butt of my knife on his wrist. He drops his sword, stunned.

“How did you do that?” he asks. I shrug. And that’s how the rest of the afternoon goes- me kicking his butt, basically. A few times he gets lucky and disarms me. One time he even accidentally cuts me. Luke just hands me a… lemon bar?

“What’s that?” Luke gives me a strange look.

“Ambrosia,” he says. “Food of the gods. If it doesn’t make you burn up, it should heal you.” Somehow I get the idea that he doesn’t mean that figuratively.

“Okay…” I take a bite of it. My eyes widen. This doesn’t taste like a lemon bar! It tastes like my mom’s famous chocolate chip cookies! After savoring the rest of it, I look at my cut. There’s some dried blood, but the wound is all closed up. I wouldn’t even be able to tell where it used to be, except for the ripped fabric. Wow, this stuff is awesome! How come I don’t have any?

* * *

  


    Over the next week I get familiar with the camp. Luckily, none of my stuff is stolen from the Hermes cabin, though I did catch them trying a few times. I gradually learn the camp songs, get used to sharing my food with the gods, and how to avoid Clarisse (she doesn’t want to get her butt kicked). It actually begins to feel like my home-away-from-home.

    Percy and Annabeth are my buds, and I pretty much hang out with them all day. There is tons of stuff to do, and almost everything has a god sponsor. I bet that my dad isn’t Apollo. I don’t have an ear for music whatsoever. And when I tried to play a guitar, it broke. I’m good at swimming, but not good enough for Poseidon to be my dad.

    It is hard to conceal my wings all the time- I always have to wear baggy shirts so no one can see them- but I find ways to spread them out, like while we’re in the woods. I get really good at monster fighting.

    One day I realize- these kids are weird enough for me! They LITERALLY have people with wings, called harpies! I mean, they’re not six-limbed like me, but they do have wings, and are people. So. Also, there are pegasi. Pegasuses? Who knows. My point is, it might be okay for them to know about my wings. Maybe. I’m not going to, like, confess all my feelings, but hopefully they wouldn’t blab it. I’ve had enough of that in my lifetime.

    I’m heading to the dining pavilion when I remember that today is my first Capture the Flag tournament. I’m on the team led by the Ares cabin, unfortunately, which means that I’m against the Athena cabin, which Annabeth is in.

    I eat my lunch- pizza (and I do mean a pizza), a salad, and a soda- and then head out with everyone else to the edge of the forest. Chiron trots up, holding his medic gear and a bow and quiver.  

    “Campers!” he bellows. “Get in your positions!” Off we scuttle. In the chaos, Clarisse walks up to me. Fortunately, she hasn’t tried to “initiate” me… but we have argued. She scowls as she reaches my side.

    “Listen, scrub. Luke made me put you on offense. Head up there to the front lines, and don’t you dare let us lose!”

    And that’s how I end up showing my secret to the entire camp- in the most dramatic way possible, of course.


	5. The Glowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max reveals her wings, tells her backstory, and has a nightmare.

    I hike through the woods to the spot I’m supposed to be at. I arrive just in time to hear Chiron’s horn split the air. Immediately the heavy silence of the woods is replaced with the yelling of kids and the clashing of swords- exactly the sounds that I heard when I first came here.

    I clutch my own dagger tightly in my hand. Since I’m on the front lines, my job is to catch the flag. And for some reason, my team doesn’t have a plan.

    My helmet slips down on my face yet again. I push it back up. The red plume sways back and forth.

    I sneak forwards, dodging around trees and slipping through the shadows. I skirt around a clearing where a kid on the other team is standing stupidly. I smirk. I must be getting close.

    It goes on like that for a while- my sneaking around the other team. Finally, I see it. A shimmering blue banner, guarded by three kids. Worst of all, one of them is Annabeth.A thought wiggles through my brain. With the right distraction, I could easily grab the banner and fly off with it. But no. Surely some of my teammates have a plan. Hmm.

    I decide just to watch for now. But only a few minutes have gone by when there is a rustling in the edge clearing across from me, where I came from. A twig snaps, followed by cursing in Ancient Greek. A kid from my team charges out, followed by others, and screaming blue helmets. I grin. Nothing like a li’l combat to spice up your day! I stay in the shadows, though. Maybe, just maybe, my… idea could work.

    The kids all start dueling. Only Annabeth remains guarding the flag, and she’s busy watching the fight.

    But no. I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I can’t do this. This is a BIG DECISION. I start to head back but luckily realize what’s happening right before I step into the line of fire.

    That’s right. Line of fire. There is a wall of enemies approaching. Red plumes galore. I instantly know what I have to do. I stealthily sprint back to the clearing.

    _We’re going to lose,_ I realize. _U_ _nless I stop them._ For the second time in the last minute, I grin.

    Annabeth has just looked at the flag- she glances every few seconds- before I step into the clearing. I creep toward the flag. Once I have it safely tucked under my arms, I shrug off my sweater and shout “Hey!” Every head turns toward me. I take a shaky breath. Then I spring straight through everyone. There’s a brief moment of silence in which I meet Annabeth’s gaze and say “Please don’t judge me,”... and then I spread my wings and flap hard, relishing the feeling as my feet lift off the ground.

    I almost rise too slowly- a branch on one of the ever-looming trees snags onto one of my combat boots, but then I’m above the tree line. The bright sunlight glints off my feathers, and the air is that perfect crisp kind, and in that moment I feel so Good. Capital G.

    I turn around and note how everyone has already recovered their shock and is running after me with spears. Yikes. Part of me hates myself for making this decision, and the other part wishes that I just stayed with my Flock. But there’s a tingle of- I don’t know, something- in the back of my brain. It’s a triumphant tingle, that’s for sure. This is fun. _I’m having fun. After revealing my secret willingly to the first people who aren’t my family._

    My wings automatically find the best air currents. The sunlight bores down on me from the never-ending blue sky, and it feels like my skin is absorbing it. A laugh bubbles up from my throat and escapes my mouth. No one is shouting, ‘devil spawn!’ at me or anything, and they’re continuing to play capture the flag! My whole body positively vibrates with happiness. I feel so in control, so _alive_ right now, there is no way that I shouldn’t have come here. I don’t know what Fang was thinking. Not like it’s a first, though.

I continue over the treetops until I reach the area that my own team’s flag is hidden in. Then I let one of my wings tilt slightly downwards- like the hawks, a few years ago- so that I’m circling it. I spiral down until my feet tap down onto the grass, then jog over towards the stunned kids guarding our flag.

    “We won!” I shout. Hey, I made a decision, I’ve gotta stand by it now.

    The kid just stares.   

    “So, um, what now? The game’s over, right?”  I start walking back to camp. Then I notice Chiron hasn’t blown his conch shell thing yet.

    Everyone- and I do mean everyone- finally catches up, Chiron with them. No one is talking, although Luke smiles weakly at me. Before I can actually ask him anything, he shields his eyes like he can’t look at me. Chiron reaches me.

   “What’s up?” I ask. “The game’s over.” Before he can respond, Annabeth walks up.

    “Max, look at your arms,” she says gently. I look down, and gasp. And believe me, it takes something pretty impressive to make me gasp.

    I’m glowing. A silvery light shines from my skin. Actually, maybe ‘shines’ isn’t a strong enough word. My skin is sunlight. I don’t have a shadow, because I am glowing. “Wha- what does it mean? What’s happening?” I stutter.

    “You have been claimed,” Chiron says. He kneels, followed by the other campers. I get a distinct sense of deja vu, except that this time it’s not Percy that they’re kneeling for, it’s me.

    “Wait, who’s my parent, then?” I’m completely confused. There isn’t anything floating over my head! Self consciously, I fold my wings against my back, hidden out of sight. I shift my weight from foot to foot.

    Chiron stays bowed, as does everyone else. After my glow fades, which is after a couple of minutes, my ADHD kicks in.

    “Um, not to interrupt, but could we get some chow? Winning Capture the Flag takes up a lot of energy.”

    Chiron blinks, like he’s been lost in his thoughts. He stands back up.

    “Yes. Yes, of course. To the dining pavilion!”

    As we walk back towards camp, clouds cover the sun. They even cover Camp Half-Blood. Thunder and lightning storm over the valley.

   I shiver.

   During dinner I sit with Annabeth. Screw the rules. Since I’ve been claimed, I can’t really sit at the Hermes cabin, but since I don’t know who my godly parent is, I don’t know where I should be sitting.

    I ask her constantly who my parent is. She doesn’t know, which seems to be really frustrating her. I guess as a daughter of Athena she feels like she should know everything.

    “No Olympian god makes their kid glow when they claim them!” she says.

    I skip the bonfire afterwards and interrogate Chiron instead. “Alright, who is my godly parent?” I say crossly. “And why won’t you tell me?”

    He doesn’t say anything, which I assume means that he knows but won’t tell me. Finally, he speaks.

    “Most demigods are claimed by a floating symbol above their head, and none of them have skin of sunlight when they are. I do not know who your parent is, only that you have been claimed. So for now, you should stay in the Hermes cabin.” Then he canters away, leaving me to fake a smile and walk back to the group.

    Annabeth and Percy are sitting on the edge of the campfire, barely in the light. As I sit down down with them, Annabeth clears her throat nervously. She nudges Percy, and he straightens, startled. Then understanding dawns on his face. “Oh!” he says.

    “Um, care to tell us why you have wings? Like, what’s your backstory?” Oh. So that’s what this is about.

    Since I’m already kind of on a roll with revealing stuff about myself, I decide to fill them in on my life.

    “Well, I don’t really have a choice, do I.” Percy makes a face.

    “I guess.”

    I start talking.

   “So, me and my fl-” I realize that, for the first time, I can actually say it- “flock-”

   Percy’s snort cuts me off. “THAT’S what you’ve been correcting yourself on? Oh man, so your family has wings too, is that it? So you call yourselves a flock?”

    I give him a death glare.

    “Percy, shut up,” Annabeth adds.

    “Yeah, my flock. We grew up in dog cages, at this despicable lab called the School.” Annabeth glares at Percy, daring him to laugh. “It was horrible. We didn’t know whether we were test tube babies or what, and every day they would do… tests. Constantly they would test how long we could run, or see how much pain tolerance we had…” I shudder.

    “Anyway, we aren’t fully human. We’re 2% avian- bird,” I add quickly, before Percy can ask. “As a result, we have wings, of course, but also air sacs, hollow bones, we’re very tall, fast, and strong, and um…” I stretch out my wings, accidentally hitting several people on the head as I do so. “Ooh, sorry! Oh yeah, for some reason we’re mutating. Angel- she’s 7, and she can change her appearance, read minds and sometimes control them. Her brother, the Gasman, can do pretty much anything with explosions. So can Iggy, who’s blind, and he can also feel colors with his fingers and has incredible hearing and smell. Um, Nudge is magnetic and can people’s past thoughts when she touches certain objects, and Fang can blend into shadows. As for me, I can fly super fast. Oh, and we can all breathe underwater.” I pause, trying to think about what I missed. I don’t want to talk about Jeb, and I’m not gonna mention my Voice.

    “None of us are really sure who our parents are. We found files one time, but they were probably planted by the School. They do stuff like that. The School is still out there, torturing innocent kids. And we’re only some of the successful ones. Most of them die off. You can’t imagine how it feels when the kid in the cage next to you dies during the night.” I gulp, temporarily overwhelmed from the memories that I usually try not to think about. I take a deep breath and continue. “The Whitecoats had all sorts of different hybrids. As far as we know, only one other kind was successful: Erasers. They are basically people that can change into a wolf at will. Unlike us, they work for the School. We’re still running from them. They even kidnapped Angel once-” I exhale.

    “Then the School moved on to robots. Which would be fine, ‘cause then they wouldn’t be hurting humans anymore, except that they tried to kill the other hybrids. They’re making robot Erasers with a thin layer of skin over them, so that they look real, but are even harder to beat. Oh, and then they gave them wings, so now we call the flying ones Flyboys. And the School made a whole bunch of other hybrids, too.”

    “Oh my gods, that sounds terrible!” Annabeth gasps. Percy’s mouth is hanging open.

    “Yeah, it sucks,” I agree. Suddenly I become aware of the silence. I look around nervously, and realize that everyone is looking at me.

    Apparently Chiron realized this, too. “Campers!” he shouts. There is a general muttering of ‘oh, sorry’, and then the chatter resumes.

    Percy starts the conversation again. “So… the School is still out there? That’s terrible! I bet some of them are monsters in disguise, too…”

    Annabeth chimes in. “Right! Maybe the Erasers work for Lycaon!”

    I stare at her dumbly. So does Percy. “Who’s that?” She sighs.

    “Lycaon is the first werewolf, except that actual werewolves don’t only morph on the full moon. He can morph at will, and so can his cronies.”

    “Ohhhhhhh. Yeah, that’s bad.” I say. Annabeth frowns.

    “Wait. Were they never affected by anything but silver items?” I think about it. Sure, we’ve injured them before, but not killed them… even when Gazzy and Iggy blow them up, we’ve never seen proof.

    “We’ve been able to injure them, just not kill them. Maybe they’ve been getting weaker…? Who knows.”

    That night, when I try to sleep, I have nightmares again.

    I am running through a field of dried grass, trying to get enough speed to take off. The only problem is, no matter how hard I flap and no matter how fast I run, I always come falling back to the ground. Red eyes close upon me as I sprint through the weeds. My arms and legs are bleeding from microscopic cuts.

    Finally I get to the end of the field… only to be standing at the edge of a cliff. Miles below me, I can see a brown river snaking its way to the horizon. Without questioning it, I jump. I can fly, right?

    Wrong. I try and glide, but the wind whistles right through my feathers. I flap, and continue to fall. And right as I’m about to give up, I hear a voice.

    _So you’re the girl._ The voice penetrates my flesh, making me shudder. It’s different from the Voice- it sounds female and gravelly. I flap harder. Something about this voice- it’s evil. It sounds like it has malicious intentions.

    _You could join me, you know._ Oh, great. Now it’s trying to recruit me? If I’m not with it now, then I must be against it… and there is no way that I can trust that voice. _Yeah, right._ I think. The voice sighs, or maybe it’s just the wind in my ears. _Very well,_ it says, _if I cannot have you then there will be… consequences._ Lovely.

The ground is coming closer and closer, and my wings still aren’t working, despite all logic. I close my eyes tightly and examine my senses. The first thing that I notice is that there isn’t actually any wind in my ears. The second thing is that when I stretch out my hand, the wind seems to go right through it. In fact, the wind isn’t even blowing my hair away from my face.

I wave my hands in front of my face, and get a shock- they’re glowing. In the same way that they were earlier today, except that this time they’re fuzzy at the edges- as if my eyes can’t tell where my hand ends and the air begins. And the strangest thing? They’re getting brighter.

I feel a tugging at the bottom of my stomach, and I seem to suck some of the light out of the air and onto me.

Suddenly my fall is cushioned- literally. It feels like I landed on a bean bag chair or something, but when I look down, I’m still hundreds of yards above the ground. No, below me is a floor of sunlight. I tentatively sit up and take a step, and the platform holds. The floor seems to be sturdy.

I imagine, like, a flying carpet, and there’s another tugging in my gut. When I next open my eyes there is a flying carpet of light.

I laugh, and the sound echoes off the cliff behind me and throughout the landscape. This is so cool!

My joy doesn’t last too long, though. I here that stupid voice again, chuckling quietly. A shadow comes up from behind me and extinguishes the carpet and the floor, and I’m falling again, but this time I scream, loud, again and again as I plummet towards the buildings below. Right before I hit the ground, I wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys- I know that I am adding so many plot twists, but I hope that the story will still be good. Besides, I can't resist! I hope you enjoy this, and PLEASE comment! Whether it's good or bad, I want some feedback!


	6. Dirt Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max wakes up in a different time, and the cast from Percy Jackson and the Olympians defeat Gaia. Max also learns to "hone" her powers, and looks for her family.

“Whaaa!” I fall out of my bunk and scramble to get back up. Once I do I look around. Sunlight streams through the windows of the otherwise empty Hermes cabin. Empty? Oh. Well, it’s noon, so I guess that makes sense. But wouldn’t the breakfast bell or whatever wake me up? Guess not.

I remember to run a comb through my tangled brown hair before I go out. Then I grab my knife and jog to the dining pavilion. Hopefully there will still be food.

I look around while I run. Where is everyone? Usually the camp is bustling with activity.

When I pass more than 12 cabins, I know something is wrong. Unless the camp decided to somehow make like twenty more cabins in a single night, then something happened. And that something is probably not good.

I don’t even stop at the dining pavilion. From a glance I can see that it’s empty. I continue jogging until I get to the borders of camp- and then what I see is terrifying.

First of all, there is a flying bronze ship coming from across the rolling hills. Second, there seems to be a war going on.

Not just a battle. A straight-on  _ war _ .

The kids from Camp Half-Blood and a bunch of other kids are fighting monsters. Tons of monsters. I don’t know who the other kids are, but they must be demigods too, ‘cause everyone is using magic.

I immediately unfurl my wings and take off, to survey the battle from afar. It doesn’t go very well. What looks like a harpy comes flying at me with gleaming talons. I stab her in the chest, and she disappears in a puff of yellow dust.

I look to see where Percy or Annabeth or Chiron or anyone that I know is, and spot Annabeth fighting a Cyclops. I dive-bomb it.

It works pretty well. My feet slam into its head, and it staggers, and by then Annabeth has stabbed it with her own knife.

“Annabeth!” I shout. “What’s going on?”

She looks at me blankly. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

I gape at her, stunned. “You mean- what happened? Literally yesterday I… was claimed! Remember?”

Annabeth’s eyes become unfocused. “You mean… wait. Max? Maximum Ride? But you disappeared four years ago!” she looks at me again. “It  _ is  _ you!”

“What do you mean, I disappeared four years ago? I’ve been right here, at camp! And I’ve only been going here for like 2 weeks!” I think of a way to prove it. “Wait, how old are you?”

“Seventeen. Why?”

I stare at her. “‘Cause I’m fifteen! And I was older than you and Percy yesterday!”

Annabeth shrugs. “Well, whatever happened we can figure out later. Right now we have to fight!”

“Agreed.” I take to the air again. The next hour is a blur of fighting. At one point a centaur that is notably not Chiron aims an arrow at my leg. I notice it just in time, and manage to dodge it enough that it only grazes my foot. It’s still not ideal, but it’s better than getting hit in the leg.

I stop when the dirt lady wakes up. And I do mean that literally. Her clothes are made of dirt, along with pretty much every plant I can think of.  _ Awake! _ it says. I gasp. It’s the same voice as in my head! Who is she?

Cursing my lack of an education, I fly closer to her. She opens her eyes for what I can tell is the first time in a while. Her irises are pure green. Not just bright green.  _ Pure _ green. There aren't any pupils. Creepy.

_ “Little fools. The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me.” _

I have no idea what that means, but it does get a reaction. The whole army below me starts whispering. I can practically feel the fear in the air. Or maybe I can. Who knows anymore? A girl shouts “Stand fast! Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!” Huh. So the other kids are Romans. I didn’t know that a Roman camp existed, but oh well.

The goddess- I’ve decided that she must be a goddess- laughs. She spreads her arms and the earth literally bends towards her. Trees tilt, roots creak, and soils ripples in the waves. A kid flies into the air, but aside from him everyone is on the ground and sinking. That’s right, sinking. The ground literally becomes quicksand or something.

_ “The whole earth is my body! How would you fight the goddess of-”  _ A metal dragon swoops out of the sky and grabs her into the air.

After closing my jaw, I fly after them. The dragon continues to rise. In a flash, I realize that there is a person riding its back. He’s grinning.

“Pipes! Jason! You coming? The fight is up here!”

The kid who was flying earlier takes off again, carrying a girl this time. He must be a son of Zeus, or whatever the Roman name for it is, because as he ascends the clouds come down towards him, flashing lightning. I’m not too happy about the latter, but I figure that the dirt lady is definitely evil, so it’s worth it. I fly above them, hoping to maybe get in a surprise kick or something.

The earth lady is trying to get loose, from turning into sand and trying to fall to blasting pieces of earth and rock everywhere. The son of Zeus keeps her wrapped in a cocoon of wind, while the kid on the back of the dragon- maybe a son of Hephaestus?- blasts fire towards her.

“ _ You cannot defeat me! I AM ETERNAL! _ The earth goddess shouts, sounding royally enraged.

“Eternally annoying!” the Hephaestus kid shouts. He brings the dragon higher.

“ _ FOOLISH CHILDREN!”  _ Dirt Lady shouts.

“You are so weary, eons of pain and disappointment weigh on you.” the girl that the son of Zeus is holding shouts.

“ _ SILENCE! _ ” She shouts.

“Millennia of sorrow. Your husband Ouranos was abusive. Your grandchildren the gods overthrew your beloved children the Titans. Your other children, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones, were thrown into Tartarus. You are so tired of heartache.” the girl continues.

_ “LIES!” _ Dirt lady screams.

“What you want,” she continues, “more than victory, more than revenge… you want rest. You are so weary, so incomprehensibly tired of the ungrateful mortals and immortals.”

_ “I-YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME-YOU CANNOT-” _

“You want one thing,” the girl continues soothingly, “One word. You want permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles. You--want--SLEEP.”

I’m lucky that I’m so far away- the words don’t have much affect on me. They do on dirt lady, though. She falls asleep and starts snoring. It also works on the Zeus kid, who temporarily falls. The dragon catches him in one of his claws.

The wind dies. The storm disappears. The clouds resume their normal business.

“Leo!” the girl gasps. “We only have a few seconds. My charmspeak won’t-”

“I know!” the Hephaestus kid- Leo, I guess- shouts. Fire ripples all over his body, illuminating his skull. “I can’t contain the fire much longer. I’ll vaporize her. Don’t worry. But you guys need to leave.”

“No!” the Zeus kid shouts. “We have to stay with you. Piper’s got the cure. Leo, you can’t-”

“Hey.” Leo grins. “I told you I had a plan. When are you going to trust me? And by the way- I love you guys.”

The dragon’s claw opens, and the Zeus kid and Piper fall. I start flying away too- but I move up instead of out.

The dragon becomes hotter and hotter until it is a ball of fire in the sky. For some reason the heat doesn’t bother me, but then I see a second comet of fire come streaking towards us. I yelp and fly higher.

The explosion turns the entire sky gold.

The dragon shoots off in a random direction. I decide to follow, if only to find out what’s happening. I lower until I’m parallel with it, then keep pace with it (for once I’m glad for my super-speed ability). Once I’m certain that the heat won’t kill me, I grab onto one of its claws. They close around me, but for some reason it isn’t scary. In fact, it’s rather comforting.

The heat that would usually burn only feels warm. Eventually, since the dragon seems nowhere close to stopping, I fall asleep to the gentle rocking of wings.

* * *

 

“Festus, good news!”

My eyes fly open. My body tenses, and then I remember where I am again. I look around. There are clouds everywhere below us, so I don’t know where we are. It’s roughly nine-ish, I’m guessing, and… what was that voice?

Oh, right. The kid. Leo. Wow. He survived that explosion? But who is Festus? Oh, no. He named the dragon?!

“Our navigation readings are completely messed up!” hoo-kay. This kid is crazy.

There is a pause, and then- “Yeah! Descend! Get us below the clouds and maybe-”

Festus drops in midair. The breath is promptly sucked out of my lungs.

We shoot through the clouds and over an ocean. A glittering blue sea, to be exact. And there is a smudge of green. Land!

“OH, YEAH! WHO DIED? WHO CAME BACK? WHO’S YOUR FREAKIN’ SUPERSIZED McSHIZZLE NOW, BABY? Woooooooooooo!” Wow. Someone’s excited.

As if sensing my confusion, Festus’ claw releases me. I immediately open my own wings and fly underneath him, out of sight from Leo. Until I know what’s going on, I’m not gonna let myself be seen.

Once we’re almost to the ground, I notice a girl standing on the edge of the island. She’s wearing black jeans and a white shirt. Unless this island is a resort (and I don’t think it is), then she must be a goddess or something.

Unfortunately, just as I realize this the dragon’s tail whirls around too fast for me to dodge and hits my head- hard. Luckily, we’re only like 15 feet off the ground. I’m vaguely aware of my body hitting the ground underneath one of Festus’ legs so that I’m hidden in a nook away from sight- and then I’m off to la-la-land.

* * *

 

“Hey! Hey, wake up!” Someone taps me on my forehead, hard. Immediately I spring onto my feet- wings out and ready to fly away, fists up, battle stance- all ready for whoever is stupid enough to want to fight me.

“Whoa!” A smudged surprised face looks at me, framed with tangled brown hair. Who- oh. It’s that kid Leo. “Wow, that is so cool! You have wings?”

I frown. “Well, duh.” What does he think, they’re props? Self-consciously I tuck them behind my back so that they’re semi-hidden from view.

That girl that was on the island before stands behind him. “Who are you?” she says.

“I’m Maximum Ride. You can call me Max, I guess. Who are you? And what was that war going on at Camp Half-Blood?”

The girl looks troubled. “I’m Calypso,” she says. “And I’m guessing that the war you saw was against Gaia and her forces.”

Leo nods. “Yep. Good thing we won- I really didn’t want to die- though I did, anyway, so- yeah.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Okay… so, what now?”

Leo puts his arm around Calypso, who surprisingly doesn’t shrug it off. I guess they’re a couple, even though they just met. Or, I guess, I assume they just met. Maybe not. Ugh, I need to stop overthinking about all this stuff or my head is going to explode.

I start pacing. “So, I need to get back to camp. Anyone know how to get there?” Normally I’d be fine but it seems like my inner compass isn’t working.

Leo looks at Calypso expectantly. She looks lost in thought. Then she shakes her head as if to wake herself up, and nods once, agreeing with herself about something. “Usually there is a magic raft that arrives, but the usual rules don’t seem to be working very well.” she gestures at Leo vaguely. “You see, Ogygia isn’t supposed to be found more than once.” Huh. Maybe he has come here after all.

I decide to get some answers. “So, you’re obviously a son of Hephaestus.” I point at Leo. “Which god is your parent?” I ask Calypso. She looks mildly offended.

“I am a goddess. Atlas is my father, and Tethys is my mother.”

“Oh.” Right, you don’t have to have an Olympian god as a parent! I completely forgot.

“I mean, cool!” I cringe. Not only did I come off as a jerk- I came off as a sympathetic idiot!

Calypso smiles at me sadly. “It’s alright,” she says, “I was imprisoned here because it is my punishment for supporting my father in the first Titan War.”

I stare at her blankly. “Do you still support him?”

She smiles weakly. “Wouldn’t you, had your parent been?”

“Definitely not.” I am very loyal- to my friends, that is.

“Think about it,” she presses, annoyed, “You have been raised at Camp Half-Blood.” she drowns out my ‘What? No I haven’t!’s with her own voice. “You believe that the gods are better than the Titans, because why? Because you were raised to believe it! You think the gods are so high and mighty, but they’re just as bad as the Titans!”

“Oh, come on!” I storm, angry now. “Sure, they’re not perfect, but they’re way better than the Titans! Kronos swallowed his freakin’ kids! The Titan’s have committed, like, unspeakable crimes!”

Calypso looks at me strangely. “When your family decides something, you stick with that decision.”

I think about Jeb, and his betrayal to the flock. A lump comes into my throat. “No, I don’t. I don’t.” I turn away and face the ocean. A slightly salty sea breeze tangles my hair. I irritably pull it back into a ponytail. I extend my wings and let them soak in the sunlight.

There is long,  _ long _ moment of silence. Leo breaks it by clearing his throat awkwardly.

“Uh, Max?”

I turn towards him and Calypso. He points at me.

“You’re glowing.”

“I am?” I look down at my hands. Sure enough, they’re made of sunlight again. “Oh. I am. Sorry, it happens sometimes. I can’t control it yet.”

Calypso looks at me mutely. “That doesn’t happen to demigods,” she finally says.

“Well, yeah, I mean, I don’t really know what it means, but-” I start to say.

“No, I mean that  _ doesn’t happen to demigods _ .”

“Oh. So- I’m not a demigod? What am I, then?”

“A-” Calypso falters. Then she looks at Leo. “Start packing. Now.”

“Sure thing, Sunshine.” he trots off to the pile of luggage that I somehow missed before and starts loading them onto Festus, humming a tune that sounds suspiciously like “California Gurls”.

She turns to me again. “A demititan.”

“A  _ what? _ ”

“A demititan. Half mortal, half titan. Chiron may not recognize the signs, but I do.”

“So WHO IS MY PARENT, then?” I am SO sick of stepping around the facts!

“Theia.”

“And who’s that?”

“Theia is among the first Titans. She is the goddess of sight, and more importantly, light. Specifically sunlight, or the light from a clear blue sky. Which makes you, I suppose,” Calypso continues, “my aunt.”

“Whoa.”

“I agree.”

“So… what powers do I have, then?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Well, obviously you can glow. My guess is that eventually you will be able to control sunlight, and maybe something to do with vision.”

“Wow. Is there, like, any way that I can train it, maybe hone it to defend myself with and all that jazz?”

“... close your eyes and see whether you can condense the light in a certain area.”

I close my eyes. My entire body glows with warmth. If I concentrate (which is pretty hard to do what with Leo’s whistling as he loads stuff onto Festus, but I somehow manage it), I feel a kind of tingling all over. I picture it migrating from all of my body to my right hand. After a few seconds, it complies. When I open my eyes, I can’t even see my hand. It looks like I am holding the sun.

“Wow!” I exclaim.

“You learn fast,” Calypso nods dismissively.

I walk over to the edge of the water and stick my glowing hand in. The water acts as if I actually stuck the sun in it- it sizzles and froths and would probably be evaporating if it wasn’t, you know, an  _ ocean _ .

Leo finally finishes packing with a satisfied whoop- “Bad Boy Leo saves the day again!”- and walks over to us. As he does, I lose my focus. The glow fades, but the warm feeling is still there in my gut.

“Can we go back to camp now?” he asks. I crack a smile.

“Yup.”

* * *

 

15 minutes later Calypso, Leo and I are saddled up on Festus’ back and ready to go. I could fly, of course, but that takes up a lot of energy that I can’t afford to waste. 

Festus has just taken off when it hits me. If the titaness Theia is my mom, then Dr. Martinez is can’t be.  _ Come on! _ I can’t have just a bit of certainty in my life for once?

_ Didn’t I tell you, Max? Nothing is as it seems. _ Oh, great. My Voice is back, too. Endless surprises.

I think back to what Annabeth said.  _ Maximum Ride? But you disappeared four years ago!  _ How did THAT happen? Hmm. I was having that nightmare, and then I heard Gaia’s voice in my head, and then that shadow came and killed my light, and I fell. Why couldn’t I fly? I guess that was just part of the nightmare.

Oh no. A rock of dread appears in my gut. Annabeth said that I’d been gone for four years. FOUR YEARS! What happened to my flock? Are they still at my mom’s house? Oh man. I’m so agitated that I flip off of Festus’ back and start flying on my own.

So that is definitely on the top of my to-do list. I NEED to find my family and know if they’re okay. And if they aren’t-

I blink hard, fighting hysteria. I’ve barely gone a  _ day _ without my flock- let alone four  _ years! _

I fly up to where Leo is steering Festus. “I have to go.” I shout. He turns towards me.

“What?”

“I have to go! I’ll come to camp when I’m done!”

“Okay!” 

I drop back briefly to Calypso. “Thanks for everything!” She nods briefly.

Alright. Now I can go. I pour on the speed and shoot past Festus, ignoring their cries of shock. Yes, I can fly fast. Deal with it.

After like an hour I start glowing again, and gradually my speed increases until I’m basically a comet. 

Another hour passes, and I shoot past endless hills.

Finally I pass over the neighborhoods near my mo- right. She isn’t my mom.  _ Dr. Martinez’ _ s house. I tuck my wings and drop like a stone, spreading them back out when I’m 10 feet from the ground so that I don’t make like an egg and  _ splat _ \- then I stand up and look around.

I am standing in the backyard. It looks like it usually does- just a grassy bit of land, surrounded by a wooden fence. There is a supply shed in one of the corners, and a stray soccer ball in the other.

I walk around the house to the front door and take a deep breath. I double check to make sure that it’s the right house. Then I make sure that my wings are hidden, just in case someone else owns the house.

When I’m about as ready as I can get, I knock on the door three times.

I hear a scuffling behind the door, and it opens.

A small, blue eyed head with short blonde hair peeks out.

“Max?” Gazzy says.


	7. Time Warp Realized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max has another Virals dream and meets her family. Not necessarily in that order. Hope you enjoy, and PLEASE comment/kudo! It is appreciated!

“Oh, my gosh! You’re here!” I blurt. It’s been like two weeks and I missed everyone SO MUCH.

Gazzy looks like he really wants to hug me but is afraid that it isn’t me. I don’t blame him. I’ve been tellin’ ‘em not to trust a person based on their appearances their whole lives.

“Neg yo?” Our secret language. It means, “Is this you?”

“Amgid.” Yes.

Gazzy doesn’t say anything. He just opens his arms and runs forward. I stumble backwards as he throws his entire weight onto me- wow. He’s gotten heavier. More muscle, I guess.

“Max! It’s Max!” he cries. Within a few seconds the rest of the flock has stampeded down the stairs and held onto me in a giant flock hug. It’s amazing.

“What happened?” Nudge asks. “You never came back from camp!” A tear trickles down her cheek as she struggles to fight the pent up emotion over the years. “You didn’t even tell us that you were staying!”

“I… I didn’t stay longer than two weeks. It’s a long story. But I’m glad I’m back.” And boy, it is. I hear a creak from the stairs and look.

And that’s when I see my mo- Dr. Martinez for the first time in four years. She has a few more wrinkles and some gray streaks, but it doesn’t make her look old- it makes her look cool. 

She holds out her arms for a hug, and I reluctantly wrap my arms around her. After a few seconds, it gets old. Where are Fang and Iggy?

I voice my thoughts. Angel looks up at me. “They’re gone, Max. They went to camp.”

“Camp? What camp? Not… Camp Half-Blood?”

Angel nods. “Turns out they could get in, after all.”

“So… they’re demigods? How are all of us… how do we have magical blood?

Nudge pipes up. “Well, you three are the oldest, so maybe that has something to do with it… and maybe- maybe you’re siblings! Ooh, that would be weird…” 

I cut her off. “Yeah, it might be connected. But first, I’m hungry. I just flew from some island in the ocean to here!”

And that’s how we end up treating ourselves to ice cream sundaes at the local diner.

“So gooood!” Gazzy croons as he shovels his third helping of strawberry ice cream into his mouth.

“I agree,” I add. There’s nothing like a bit of sugar- well, a lot of sugar- to brighten your day.

I stop eating when I realize something.

“Hey- how old are you guys?”

Angel pipes up. “I’m 11, Gazzy is 13, and Nudge is 17.” My eyes pop as I look at everyone with fresh eyes.

“Wow! You’re all grown up!”

Gazzy giggles. “Max, Nudge is older than you!” he breaks out laughing. I think back- I’m 15, but since we don’t actually know our birthdays, it  _ could _ have passed. I mean, we don’t know, right? There. I’m 16. Today will be my birthday.

“Hmph. Yeah.” I say. I know it shouldn’t, but it stings. I’ve always been the oldest. I’m the flock leader  _ because _ I’m the oldest. Well, that and I kick butt. 

My mo- Dr. Martinez is driving us home when Angel talks to me in my mind.

“ _ That’s not all, Max. They- well, it’s hard for them to talk about it. But Fang and Iggy- they didn’t just go off to camp. We haven’t seen them since.”  _ What? Why? Are they still there? Angel hears my thoughts.

_ “They had an argument about something. They had both realized that they were demigods, and Iggy wanted to go to camp, but Fang didn’t want him to. He wanted to make sure that we were safe, just like you used to do.”  _ Oh, man. Because I was just transported into the future somehow, it seems to me like nothing happened. But four years- well, when Fang went away I was devastated. And that was when he left a note. I left no trace, and have been gone ever since. Fang isn’t that much of an emotional guy, but that would tear at him. A surge of emotion nearly overwhelms me. It’s amazing that I’ve got to see the others, but I also should see the boys.

I need to see Fang right now. And Iggy too, if I can.

“ _ Wait until we get home, Max. We’ve just found you.” _ I turn and smile over at Angel. Don’t worry. I’ll wait.

For dinner M- Dr. Martinez makes rotisserie chicken and potatoes ‘n’ stuff. It’s delicious, and I say so. Unfortunately, I say so with my mouth full, but still. I swallow and repeat it. Then a thought strikes me.

“Where’s Ella?”

“Oh, she’s at summer camp,” Dr. Martinez says with a smile, “she wanted a break from us.”

I giggle. “I thought all of you were especially ripe today, so that makes sense!” It’s silly but hey, I’ve already had way too much seriousness in my life. Being raised in a dog cage does that to you.

I go to bed that night with a full stomach.

My dreams make me wish I hadn’t eaten so much.

_ I am back at the School, running down the halls again. The sharp barking of wolves sounds loudly from behind me, forever getting closer. My feet ache from sprinting for so long, but there is no way that I can stop. _

_ I pass a giant room- like, as big as a gymnasium. Those kids with the glowing blue eyes are in it. They’re not fighting- this time they’re each in dog crates.  _ Just like us. _ One of them, the girl, sees me. Her eyes widen and she shouts something that I can’t make out, then tries to break open the bars of the cage. Now, I’ve tried that lots of times before- those bars are solid steel, and I can’t even get them to bend. This girl manages to dent them just enough to slip out. She starts to run over to me. _

_ There is a loud bark right next to my ear, and I realize that I’ve slowed down. I speed up again, and see a door up ahead. I don’t even try the handle before using my momentum to kick it open. It leads through a bunch of hallways, and I follow them as best I can. I’m just thinking that I can’t keep up this sprinting much longer when I see another door. I kick through this one also and find myself… that’s right. In the gymnasium.  _

_ Since the ceiling is so high, I spread my wings and take off. There. Problem solved. Or at least, it would be if the red-headed girl and the other boys weren’t there. The Erasers go for them instead. Wait, Erasers? I thought those didn’t exist! Oh, well.  _

_ It’s terrible. The girl doesn’t even put up a fight- in fact, she closes her eyes in concentration. Is she telepathic or something? Whatever it is, it doesn’t work. Well, sort of. The wolves briefly skid to a halt, but then they shake their heads and keep running towards her. The other kids are also working on opening their cages, and one by one they pop out. I count one tall muscular guy who looks kind of like Fang (Fang is more handsome) with olive skin and shoulder-length black hair, one chubby brown-haired kid, and one shorter kid with glasses and dark skin. They all start running around as fast as I can. Then they start to fight the Erasers. _

_ I start to lower myself down so that I can help the kids. Just as my feet touch the floor, one of the boys, the one who looks like Fang, shouts. I look over and see that one of the Erasers has scratched a chunk out of his side.  _

_ The icy sense of deja vu grips my stomach. That is the same place that Fang was hurt by Ari, all those days ago on the beach. And they look so much like each other…  _

_ I don’t get to think for long. One of the Erasers comes towards me. I get ready to fight, and have just swung my first punch when I feel a hand grabbing my hair. I cry out, and  _

suddenly I am sitting bolt upright in my bed with an unseen attacker behind me, with the dream completely forgotten. Their knee presses into my back so that I can’t move, with one hand pulling my head back and the other with an arm at my throat, threatening to choking me if I move.

I immediately start to call out to my Flock, but the arm presses harder into my neck, making me gag instead. I try and throw a punch over my shoulder and am met with a clicking in my ear, the sound of a safety mode being switched off that I sadly know all too well.

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” a voice whispers. It is rough and scratchy and makes it sound like it’s painful for whoever it is to talk. An Eraser? I thought they were all killed!

I go limp, then after a few seconds thrash around wildly, kicking and screaming and biting. The attacker loses his or her grip on me, and I am able to wriggle loose. I quickly run over to my window and throw myself out into the cool night air. For a terrifying second my wings don’t catch, but then they do and I shoot up into the night. I promptly proceed to shout and rattle the windows, shouting everyone’s names screaming. When I get no response I start to freak out. I fly around to the front of the house and manage to make out in the darkness a big white van. As I watch, a dark figure darts from MY doorstep and into it, carrying a limp figure in it’s arms.

I manage to bottle my scream of anger, and dive at the figure. I would’ve rescued whoever it was, too, except that the figure whips out a gun and starts firing. I guess I wasn’t so subtle, after all. I manage to dodge most of the bullets, or they missed, but one hits my arm. It’s bleeding a little and hurts a lot, but I’m pretty sure that the bullet just grazed it. 

I don’t change direction and head towards the van. It takes off, tires screeching like in a cheesy action movie. I fly past it, then reach back and grab onto one of those car roof bar thingies with one hand and bang on the windows with the other. After a few minutes of this one of them opens, and a hand comes out holding a gun. Without hesitation it starts spraying bullets at me. There isn’t any way that I can dodge, or even time to react. 

When I open my eyes the bullets are floating in the air, glowing gold. My powers stopped them. Wow.

Unfortunately, the hand comes out of the window again, this time holding a grenade. Cursing, I let myself drop back, precious seconds before it explodes.  _ I’m so sorry, guys. _ I’ll rescue my family- and Dr. Martinez- as soon as I can.

By the time the sun is reaching the horizon I reach Camp. 


	8. Gazzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gazzy wakes up at the dreaded School. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is from the Gasman's perspective.

I wake up the way I spent my entire childhood- in a cage. Immediately I take a recap- I’m in one of those gross hospital gowns, and my cage is in a white room with a locked door at each end. My head is throbbing, and when I gingerly prod it I can feel a giant bump on the back of it. Ouch. I can only imagine what must have happened.

The last thing that I remember is falling asleep in my room, back at the house. I don’t know how long ago that was, or what time it is now. All that I know is that I’m alone.

There is a beep, and the door to my left slides open mechanically. A man walks in- young enough and attractive enough to be an Eraser- holding a gun and a bag. Rolling behind him is a machine holding two flat boards.

I’m the only person in the room. I press myself to the back of my cage, keeping my feet under me. Maybe when the man unlocks the cage…

Wrong. The machine picks up my cage and puts it on itself. It then turns and proceeds to roll out of the room.

The man stops the machine. He rummages around inside the bag, and pulls out a… you guessed it! A needle. I am so tired of needles!

“I suggest that you don’t try to resist, because this cage will be electrocuted until I tell it to stop.” he says. I glare in response, holding my position in the back of the cage. The man sighs.

“I wanted to do this,” he smiles creepily as he presses a button. Immediately the cage is on fire- burning under me, in me, through my bones, through my wings, and it’s so bad that I almost lose consciousness… but he stops it just in time. Lucky me.

I regain my breath. My skin still feels like it’s burning slowly, but I’m not giving in without a fight.

“Now are you ready?” I grit my teeth. Nope.

The man smiles again, and presses a different button. The cage is electrocuted again, the metal cutting into my skin, and it’s burning, burning… at some point I collapse. Unfortunately I’m still awake, still aware, though I can’t move well. The buzzing sound stops, and with it does most of the pain. I clumsily reach out and feel my wings- the feathers are brittle and hard, and some of them disintegrate from my touch. Ugh. I won’t be able to fly for a while.

Without asking again, the man presses the button, smiling the whole time, and this time he holds it down. And then I’m screaming, screaming… my eyes roll up back to my skull, my face is pressed up against the cage wall. I can feel my body, but I can’t move at all. Everything is on fire. It feels like there are needles poking me everywhere, so I don’t even feel it when the actual needle pierces my throat.

The next time I wake up, there is a hard metal lump in my neck and the majority of my feathers are burnt off. They are one pain of many to follow.

**Author's Note:**

> Set at the Lightening Thief, Terminal, and roughly the middle of Nevermore (basically when they have all their powers but aren't on a mission) for timeline purposes. Please comment so that I can improve this work.


End file.
